Wigan piggy bank collector purchases five limited edition NatWest pigs

Andy Cooper is the proud of owner of hundreds of NatWest pigs and has the world’s largest collections at this home in Wigan.

This now includes five Cousin Wesley Pigs which were created to raise funds for the Prince’s Trust as part of the NatWest’s participation in the annual Million Makers challenge.

For nearly 20 years, Andy, who owns a building company, has been collecting NatWest pigs. And Andy now proudly owns each of the five pigs which were specially created by ceramic specialists Wade for one of the NatWest teams involved in Million Makers.

Million Makers is an entrepreneurial corporate competition which challenges teams of employees to turn an initial investment of £1,500 into at least £10,000 profit over a period of six months. All proceeds raised go to the Prince’s Trust.

Andy said: “I’m absolutely thrilled about the new pigs. They are a fantastic addition to the collection as they are one of a kind.

“I only started collecting the NatWest pigs after NatWest stopped including them with children’s account openings. I liked the fact that they were all unique and created for different reasons. With all of the pigs in my collection, I try to find out where they came from and why they were created as each have a story.”

Andy’s collection includes one called Rocking Max – a ceramic pig with an earring made in honour of the British rock band Elixir. In addition to the pigs, Andy also owns designs for the original pigs, alarm clocks, pendulum clocks, playing cards, mugs, child's sandwich boxes, stationary sets, and full sets of the NatWest Piggy Press magazines.

Andy donated a substantial sum for the Million Makers’ pigs. As part of a fundraising top up from eBay of £5 per pound for its Big Charity Sell, the pigs helped to contribute to £8,630 for the Million Makers’ campaign. The NatWest team, who are called Team Connected Collective, have now raised more than £16,000 for the Prince’s Trust.

Georgina Woodcock, NatWest Community Banker Team Leader who leads the marketing for the fundraising team, said: “It’s been a team effort and we were overwhelmed by the amount raised for the Prince’s Trust. 2020 has been a challenging year and in particular for fundraising so we are incredibly grateful for everyone’s generosity over this period.

“We hope Andy enjoys his new pigs and thank him for all of his support.”

The first NatWest pigs, Woody and his family, were launched in December 1983 for NatWest’s Piggy Account programme aimed at young savers.

Over five million pigs were created between 1983 and 1989. Pottery company Wade was one of the potteries which created pigs over that period.

The Wigan Observer and Wigan Post are more reliant than ever on your taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. For unlimited access to Wigan news and information online, you can subscribe here.